Silver lining in dark economic times: Recycling rates soar

People bring recyclables to Ranch Town Recycling Center in San Jose Friday Dec. 10, 2010. In a tough economy, every nickel counts. Amid high unemployment, government budget deficits, and depressed housing prices, Californians are recycling cans and bottles at all-time high rates, collecting pocket change to help boost their incomes. All of that extra recycling is something of a silver lining for the environment. It means less litter by the side of the road, and more space in landfills. (Photo by Patrick Tehan/Mercury News)

For the past three years, Mark Schwede has been coming to Ranch Town Recycling in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood, dropping off cans and bottles every couple of months to make a few extra bucks.

As the economy worsened, he began to notice a change.

"Before, it was mostly people with shopping carts," he said. "Now you're seeing nicer cars here."

The trend has taken off around the state. As California's economy has worsened, the state's recycling rates have soared, with more people than ever cashing in beverage containers instead of throwing them in the trash or leaving them at the curb.

Last year, 82 percent of the aluminum cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles sold in California were recycled, up from 74 percent in 2008 and 55 percent in 2003, according to state statistics. That's the highest rate since 1992, when 82 percent were recycled amid another recession.

What once seemed like pocket change now seems like valuable extra income, experts say.

California is one of 11 states that charges a fee on beverage containers to encourage recycling. The state charges 5 cents on each glass bottle, aluminum can and plastic container up to 24 ounces, and 10 cents for containers 24 ounces and up. When consumers turn bottles and cans in at recycling centers, they get the money back.

Two main factors are driving the recycling surge.

Advertisement

Higher redemption rate

California's recycling rate, among the highest in the nation now, had been mired between 50 and 60 percent between 2000 and 2006. But it jumped to 67 percent in 2007 when a new state law increased the redemption value of most cans and bottles from 4 cents to 5 cents each.

Then came the Wall Street crash, California's 12 percent unemployment rate and the end of the housing bubble.

"I do think we have seen a boost in recycling rates because of the economy," said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, a Sacramento environmental group.

"Part of it was that the redemption rate went up to a nickel. When you are looking at how to make ends meet, you might not notice a few pennies, but a nickel gets on the radar screen."

The Valani family started Ranch Town Recycling with one employee in 1996. Today there are 13. On a recent weekday, as forklifts zipped around the lot, a steady stream of customers drove in. Some were scruffy, others well-dressed.

Owner Saulman Valani pays $2 a pound for aluminum. About 30 cans are in a pound. Glass bottles fetch 10 cents a pound, with two bottles per pound. And No. 1 plastic bottles pay 91 cents a pound, with 16 bottles per pound.

If each person in a family of four drinks one canned soda and one plastic bottle of juice per day, at those rates, recycling every container would earn the family about $180 a year.

"Friends collect bottles and cans for me," said Jeaneen Teixeira of San Jose, hauling two large bags to the weigh scales. "I use the money to bake cookies and fudge to give to people for Christmas. That's what I give for presents. It's an easy way to make extra money."

In many cities, if people put fewer aluminum cans in curbside recycling bins, the losers are the private companies that collect and recycle materials under contract with cities. That could cause them to seek to renegotiate. But that hasn't happened in San Jose, said John Stufflebean, city environmental services director.

Free landfill space

Statewide, the recycling boom continues to grow.

For the first six months of 2010, a staggering 86 percent of all beverage containers in California were recycled, the highest rate in state history since the first bottle bills were passed in 1987. And within that mountain of material, 95 percent of aluminum cans -- the most valuable of the recyclables -- were recycled in the first six months of 2010, compared with 90 percent of glass bottles and 74 percent of No. 1 plastic bottles.

Put another way, Californians purchased roughly the same number of cans and bottles in 2003 -- about 20 billion -- as they did last year. But in 2003, they recycled 10 billion of them, and last year they recycled 17 billion.

Apart from reducing litter, the increased recycling has helped free up space in landfills. Ten years ago, the state estimated that its landfills had a combined life of 35 years left. Now they have 45 years, said Mark Oldfield, a spokesman for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, although he noted that some of the extra space is due to a drop in construction, which means less debris going to landfills.

Meanwhile, recycling centers have become a crossroad of society.

"We have grandparents come in and they say they are going to put the money in their grandchildren's college fund," said Valani.

"I see families where the dad says to his kids, 'Let me show you the value of earning money.' I hear it all day."